If you ask someone who’s visited Portland what they think of it, there is a good chance you will get effusive praise in response. Last year, I began collecting such data -- surveying those I encountered who had travelled to the Oregon city. My anecdotal conclusion: Everybody who has been to Portland loves Portland.

It’s like a cross between Seattle and San Francisco, one friend told me, only better than either. Others gushed about the city’s green-mindedness -- it’s got extensive public transit, bike paths and a highly walkable core. Points were also allotted for its great restaurants, abundant street food, tasty craft beers (Portland is home to 38 breweries -- more than any other city in the world), local coffee, artistic culture, funky architecture and friendly residents.

Further research -- a YouTube link shared by a friend -- supported the hypothesis. The clip was a teaser for Portlandia, Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen’s new sketch comedy show that premiered in January.

“Do you remember the ’90s?” Armisen asks his co-star, Carrie Brownstein, in the (very funny) musical number that kicks off the first episode. “You know how people were talking about getting piercings and tribal tattoos? And people were singing about saving the planet and forming bands…?”

“Yeah.”

“Three’s a place where that idea still exists, as a reality, and I’ve been there.”

“Where is it?”

“Portland.”

The city attracts the kind of person who values leisure and bike lanes, and its socially progressive artsy vibe has given it a reputation for wackiness of the sort that Portlandia pokes gentle fun of: “It’s where young people go to retire.”

Sign me up.

I arrive three days after Christmas, along with my boyfriend and my parents. The city’s setting is green and lush. It lies just south of the Columbia River, which is also the border with Washington, and about 160 kilometres from the Pacific coast.

The first thing I notice as we (thematically inappropriately) drive into Portland is that A River Runs Through It here is less a reference to a 1992 Robert Redford film than it is fact of everyday life. The Willamette bisects the city, separating east from west; a series of bridges connect the two sides with roadways, overpasses and underpasses winding to meet them -- a funky industrial downriver sight.

Portland’s claims to fame are numerous, but perhaps most fundamental is its reputation for smart urban planning. In the 1970s, the Oregon government introduced urban growth boundaries to stave off sprawl and preserve agricultural land. While other metropolitan centres were building outward, Oregon cultivated compact, high-density cities. (Portland proper has a population of approximately 600,000.)

The city has a commitment to 20-minute neighbourhoods -- areas where all amenities are within walking distance -- and transiting between them is easy and affordable. For the $2.35 all-zone fare, you can get from pretty much anywhere to anywhere else. In the 330 square blocks of downtown, transportation is free on MAX light rail trains, trolleys and streetcars, which are also equipped with inside bike racks to facilitate use of the region’s 500 kilometers of bike paths.

Our first adventure is a walk through the downtown Pearl district. The lively shopping area was once an industrial zone, but today chain stores mix with boutiques as well as one of Portland’s most popular destinations, Powell’s books, which takes up a full city block with its massive selection of new, used and out-of-print titles.

While every city is technically a city of neighbourhoods, Portland is really a city of neighbourhoods. There are enough to baffle a visitor (this one anyway), although the city is organized into logical quadrants, NE, NW, SE, SW. We stick mainly to the downtown (SW) and Hawthorne (SE), which is home to hippies, hipsters and everyone in between. Funky cafes join restaurants, shopping and movie houses with original neon signs and hole-in-the-wall bars. Pine State Biscuits serves up traditional -- and hugely popular -- biscuits with gravy or jam. It’s the first but not last place we see a window sticker boasting, “We proudly serve tap water.”

Portland is vibrant and artsy — somehow energetic and laid back at the same time, and there’s a conscious kindness to it. Billboards and coffee sleeves from the Humane Society call for an end to “petlessnes,” and, really, where else could you find vegan ribs?

It’s chilly and damp in December, but the inclement weather gave us a chance to enjoy one of Portland’s proudest assets: its coffee. Stumptown is the most ubiquitous roaster, served in cafes across the city, as well as in three eponymous outlets/art galleries. The downtown store has an open, warehouse-like interior, with exposed brick, a wood bar and concrete floors. Biscuits for your dog are available alongside cream and sugar.

And where to go after coffee, but for doughnuts? Portland is home to what may be the world’s most famous, from local staple Voodoo. The 24-hour gourmet doughnut shop has two locations with chronic queues and features pastries with names such as Captain my Captain (Cap’N Crunch cereal affixed with vanilla frosting), Bacon Maple Bar (maple frosting, crowned with three strips of bacon) and the Portland Crème. That last one, the city’s official doughnut -- as approved by mayor and council in 2008 -- is similar to its Bostonian cousin, but with two frosting eye balls on top. Vegan doughnuts also abound, naturally.

Those truly committed to doughnuts can get hitched at Voodoo, too -- both of the shop’s locations offer weddings ranging from a $25 non-legal “intentional commitment” ceremony to “the whole shebang” -- a legal marriage, including airfare to Portland -- for $5,000.

By the end of a few days here, I’m pretty sure I want to intentionally commit to Portland. The place is just so fun, and happy. Visiting the United States, I am always struck by people’s overall friendliness, but Portland has the geniality score to beat. Residents smile walking down the street, store clerks are chatty, and even homeless people wave hello (for real).

When it came time to fly home, the airport security lady repeatedly called me “dear” in a doting, grandmotherly way while swabbing my hands and empty water bottle for trace explosives.

• Hotel deLuxe. This palatial tribute to the golden age of Hollywood is indeed luxe: rooms with high ceilings, large windows, tastefully muted colours and art deco design are super cozy, and staff go out of their way. Lobby bar The Driftwood Room is like stepping into the 1960s. hoteldeluxeportland.com

• The Hotel Monaco is part of the Kimpton chain, but this converted department store has a decidely Portland feel, with its whimsically decorated rooms. The pet-friendly hotel has a pet director, Timmy, a retired seeing-eye dog, and goldfish can be requested for your room to ease loneliness for animals left at home. A fleet of bikes is available free for guests’ use. monaco-portland.com

Food carts! The city is known for its street food and with good reason. Thanks to ease of licensing, hundreds of carts vending cheap and tasty cuisine from all corners of the globe have sprouted up in parking lots across the city. You could easily make a whole itinerary based on eating from these: foodcartsportland.com

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